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pacificpikachuYoko Kanno "Tanasonic" Concert Recordings -- 07/07/2009
I finally got to uploading the Yoko Kanno concert recordings! I actually recorded about half of the concert myself on a little recorder I brought with me, but my recording came out really crummy. Thankfully, someone else on the internet managed to get a decent recording of the whole concert. For this, I am forever thankful.
Here is the .RAR of the whole concert --> http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A2Y9E845
As a note, the recording is very good but not incredible. This was a huge, huge concert and the recorder didn't capture a ton in the way of applause, and the actual audio quality of the concert was much higher. In fact, I don't think the concert itself, in person, could have sounded much better than it did. The volume was perfect, the balance was great, and everything was so clear and crisp! It sounded fantastic. The recordings drown out the singers' voices a little sometimes, and catch what was going on directly around the recorder a bit too clearly at times. Nonetheless, the recording is excellent for an audience recording, and I'm certainly not complaining. XD
The performers present were: Yoko Kanno (duh), Maaya Sakamoto, Steve Conte, Origa, Mai Yamane, Scott Matthew, May'n, Megumi Nakajima, The Seatbelts, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. If there is piano or keyboards in a song, that's undoubtedly Yoko Kanno, who was playing like crazy on her red grand piano and keyboards for much of the concert, interspersed with running around the stage, changing costumes, conducting the orchestra, occasionally dancing, and so on. She's a very vibrant and adorable person. :D
I can't remember everything at the moment because I'll suddenly remember little pieces of the concert when a memory is triggered (honestly, I was so stunned by the concert that I feel like my memories of it are almost dreamlike), and so I will probably come back and add and fix any mistakes I make later. If I don't say much about a particular song, it just means I don't have much to add, not that I didn't enjoy it or it wasn't amazing. XD The whole concert was INCREDIBLE. I will be overusing a great many words such as awesome, amazing, incredible, fantastic, and so on.
And here's the track listing and some of my comments/explanations on each track:
00. A. Opening 1 -- Works Video
For the beginning of the concert, there was a video on the screens showing clips of the various anime Yoko Kanno has worked on, along with clips of the music from said series. None of this was live, it was just a review of what she has worked on. You can hear the audience applauding for various series that come up. The video was pretty nicely done, and it certainly started getting the audience all amped up and excited. Oddly enough, I did notice that Darker Than Black was not mentioned at all during the concert. I wonder why...? Perhaps there were legal issues or something.
00. B. Opening 2 -- Landing
During seating, there had been videos of twinkling stars with occasional "chick spaceships" (yes, as in baby chicken spaceships) going by and playing little distorted clips from Yoko Kanno songs. At this point, the spaceship came back on the screen for a while with music playing, the chick captain of the ship was preparing for landing (I can't remember what it was doing exactly, but it was adorable), and then the ship disappeared from the screen. At this point, there was a strange effect with the lights over the stage, making it look and feel as though a spaceship was landing! And from there, the concert started!
00. C. Torukia -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
First song performed was Torukia, performed by all of the female vocalists in the concert singing together, with Origa doing the main parts. Started out just playing the recorded version, I believe, but turned entirely live as it went on. *A*
01. Inner Universe -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Performed by Origa, with Maaya as back-up. I was really impressed by how great Origa is live! Actually, I was impressed by absolutely everyone, but that's not the point. XD
02. Lion -- Macross Frontier
Performed by May'n and Megumi Nakajima. Lots of fun live, and the two girls were dressed roughly like their characters, though not in a cosplay sense. I seem to recall that there was multicolored confetti coming down from in front of the stage during Lion, which made it look all sparkly and awesome. LOL at the audience and their chanting! There was actually a guy not too far from me who would yell "RANKA KAWAII!" loudly at random intervals between songs, which was rather hilarious. You can kind of hear him yelling simply "RANKA!" at one point towards the end of this song, fff.
03. Player -- Macross Frontier
Origa! With Mai Yamane riling up the audience partway through. The rap portion of the song was mostly omitted (which works better than I would expect), and the little that was used I think was recorded? Most of the other female vocalists were around doing various back-up parts. In fact, for much of the concert many of the vocalists would be up on stage at once, either doing back-up vocals or dancing.
04. Want It All Back -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai Yamane! She has so much fun on the stage, and seeing the Seatbelts up there with their jazz instruments is amazing. Mai forgot the lyrics at one point and you can hear her apologize, haha. She remembered the lyrics of the rest of the song, though. XD
05. What Planet Is This? -- Cowboy Bebop
So awesome! The Seatbelts are incredible. The whole audience would yell, "WHAT PLANET IS THIS?" on cue, along with everyone on stage.
06. Chikyuu Kyoumei -- Earth Maiden Arjuna
One of my favorite Arjuna songs, so I was happy they performed it! Again, basically all the female vocalists pitched in on this one. Sadly the only Arjuna song performed, but that's okay because they chose a great one.
07. Rakuen and Innocent Green Piano Medley -- Wolf's Rain and Macross Frontier
S-so beautiful, I teared up a little in the concert. Yoko Kanno's piano skills are always awesome, but live, as she's playing in the same vicinity as you, it's like they take on another dimension of feeling. It's so emotional and it's like the music surrounds you. Ah, I can't describe it. The audience was so silent, it was amazing. There's also a recorded version of this piano medley on the CD in the concert program. I'll have to upload it sometime~
08. Tachikoma no Iede -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Hee, so adorable! At this point in the concert, two girls in chick costumes came out and were goofing around and dancing on the stage. You'll hear them playing with the piano at one point, messing up the song, and Yoko Kanno responds by playing louder. :D
09. Hatodokei -- Napple Tale
Yoko Kanno gets up at this point and stands in the front of the stage with the two chick girls, and together the three of them play this silly song with a variety of instruments they pick up. So goofy and cute! The squeaking you hear towards the end is the squeaky ducks that were sold before the concert. Most of the audience, including myself, had them. We didn't use them this time (just Yoko Kanno did), but later we did.
10. Cat Blues -- Cowboy Bebop
You'll hear the audience laughing in this one a fair amount, and that's because it was pretty hilarious. :D An anime cat with a tie on appeared on the screen walking, and a guy dressed as a black cat appeared on the stage, too, and he and the two chick girls play pranks on each other most of the time during the song. You'll hear weird little whispery noises at some points, and that's the chicks strategizing against the cat. At the end of the song, Yoko Kanno steals the cat's tail and wears it as a boa. LOL WTF. XD
11. Be Human -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Performed by Scott Matthew. Not much commentary on this one. It was quite lovely, though, and great to see Scott live! I think the lighting was blue during this song? I don't even know if I'm remembering that correctly, but yeah.
12. Tune the Rainbow (Acapella) -- RahXephon
Maaya always sounds so clear and spot-on live. This was a beautiful acapella version of Tune the Rainbow, which has never been an acapella song. I liked the addition of the bird noises as well, and the audience was SO silent again. It felt very dreamlike during this and the next song.
13. Voices -- Macross Plus
As performed by Nakajima Megumi! I must say that I was a little worried about how Megumi would hold up live, as I had seen her sing once on a TV show and it was a bit shaky. I was pleasantly surprised that she sounded absolutely wonderful live! She reminds me almost of younger Maaya, in a way, though obviously their voices and singing styles are different. This version of Voices is absolutely beautiful. I also have to say that I was really happy that this song was performed, as this song would play in my head every time I looked at the blue summer sky and thought about heading to Japan on a plane to see Yoko Kanno, and this really profound feeling would fill me. Needless to say, in the concert it felt even more profound and amazing. ♥
14. Diamond Crevasse -- Macross Frontier
Performed by May'n. The most emotional Diamond Crevasse ever. ;; I swear it almost looked like May'n had tears in her eyes by the end of the song. So amazed and impressed and moved. May'n has one hell of a voice.
15. Gravity -- Wolf's Rain
Okay, this is the second time I've seen Gravity live (as I saw Maaya perform it in 2005 at Anime Expo as well), but this time was more awesome with the addition of Yoko Kanno playing the piano. So pretty and emotional, gahhh.
16. Garden of Everything -- RahXephon
I was thrilled that they performed this, as I love this song so much and never thought I'd get to see it live! Steve Conte sounds fantastic live as well! (What else is new, they all do! XD) Maaya was on the back stage, while Steve was in the front part of the stage. At the end of the song they tried to go towards each other, but were blocked by a guy in a cape, who represented the fact that they couldn't be together or something. Anyway, beautiful and awesome.
17. Could You Bite the Hand? -- Wolf's Rain
It was amazing seeing Steve sing this as well as play some incredible rhythm guitar on top of singing. He was playing so fast! The audience had fun clapping to this one. XD
018. Call Me Call Me -- Cowboy Bebop
Steve Conte again! So beautiful, goddammit. ;; Got a little teary, yes. This song is a very important one for me, and I would have been so so sad if it hadn't been played.
19. Yakusoku wa Iranai -- Escaflowne
Maaya, of course! During the beginning of the song you'll hear a bunch of cheering at one point, and that is when the curtain at the back of the stage raised and there was the whole orchestra. *A* Aahhhh, so incredible! The feeling this gave me was pretty much euphoric. I never really thought of Yakusoku wa Iranai as being terribly epic (though it's a great song, and a classic), but during this rendition it totally was.
20. Iteza Gogo Kuji Don't Be Late -- Macross Frontier
May'n. So fun, and really brought the audience to yet another level! Everyone was rocking out, and when she yells "MOTTEKE!" the whole audience does, too, progressively louder and louder with each one. Shortly after one of the "MOTTEKE!"s there was a "bang!" and a bunch of huge silver streamers came down in front of the stage, making it all the more awesome. You'll hear the audience cheering at that point. I was grinning ear to ear and basically the whole audience was dancing and going wild.
21. Seikan Hikou -- Macross Frontier
Megumi was having so much fun in this one. XD She was doing the dance that goes with the song during the singing, and there's a TON of "Kira!" training for the audience, fff haha. Doesn't make the most exciting audio because you can't see what was going on, but she was going around the stage and having different parts of the audience enthusiastically "Kira!" It was a competition, heh. Everyone on the stage, including Kanno herself, was doing "Kira!", too, which was a hilarious sight. Great fun. :D
22. Medley
This medley was massive, so it requires individual breakdowns:
* Genesis of Aquarion -- Sousei no Aquarion
Performed by May'n. The choir sounded amazing, but I didn't like this version as much as the recorded version. Oh well, regardless it was great hearing the audience all singing along, and May'n did a good job considering I don't think she speaks English.
* What 'Bout My Star -- Macross Frontier
May'n and Megumi! Fun and adorable. :D
* Oboete Imasu Ka? -- Macross
Megumi. The entire audience seemed to know this one, as I would expect they would!
* Watashi no Kare wa Pilot -- Macross
For a few seconds, anyway, before it goes back into What 'Bout My Star!
* Welcome to the Fanclub's Night -- Macross Frontier
* Purachina -- Cardcaptor Sakura
Maaya burst in wearing the most ridiculous multicolored floofy skirt, haha! It was adorable. XD It's always fun hearing her do her older songs live because her voice has matured so much!
* Rise -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Origa, being fantastic as usual! I love this song. It always makes me want to write really epic, dark, awesome stories for some reason.
* Infinity -- Macross Frontier
May'n, for a few seconds!
* Hemisphere -- RahXephon
Maaya! Second time I've seen this live as well, but again it's better with the actual band there and everything. They actually played the intro animation that goes with it as well.
* Beauty is Within Us -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Scott Matthew. This song is so powerful no matter what, but live it's just...really, really potent and amazing. *___* Gorgeous.
* ELM -- Cowboy Bebop
As performed by Origa and Scott! Simply gorgeous, and it's fun to hear another spin on the song. This song/scene in the series is one of my favorite examples of Yoko Kanno's odd and amazing use of music. It doesn't seem like criminal-capturing spaceship battle music, but somehow it works so very well and to amazing effect.
* Kiseki no Umi -- Record of the Lodoss Wars
But no actual vocals, though, unfortunately, just the song intro. Good thing I saw it in its entirety at Maaya's concert at AX!
* After, in the Dark -- Macross Plus
No vocals, again, but awesome drums.
* Rain -- Cowboy Bebop
As performed by both Steve and Mai, so essentially mixing the two versions together! Totally awesome and nostalgic.
* Ao no Ether -- Macross Frontier
Megumi! So poignant. ;; I loved the bit of Megumi and May'n doing "It's long, long goodbye..." together. Made it all the much more moving.
* Gotta Knock A Little Harder -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai. YES. This was amazing! Especially because most of the vocalists involved in the concert did back-up vocals on this song and it just...made it incredible. I remember clearly standing there just going, "Oh man, I'm watching a bunch of Yoko Kanno's main vocalists all singing Gotta Knock a Little Harder all together. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS." I'm not sure why I remember that so clearly because I kept thinking that sort of thing throughout the whole concert, but, anyway.
* Yubiwa
Maaya! So beautiful, ahh.
* The Real Folk Blues -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai. NO WORDS. REAL FOLK BLUES LIVE. So many memories, ahh.
23. Blue -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai, with Maaya and a few of the other female vocalists doing the beginning bit. I cried a little because it was so powerful and beautiful and...bawww. T____T I think a lot of the audience had tears in their eyes. I loved the new bit with the violins toward the end, and "We're ascending" instead of "I'm ascending." Goddamn. So fucking amazing. Note the crazy long applause. Thought it might be the end of the concert (though I suspected it wasn't because several songs hadn't been played that I figured probably would be), but instead we got EPIC HUGE ENCORE.
24. Encore A. -- Yo Pumpkin Head -- Cowboy Bebop
Hahaha, this was fun/awesome. Everyone was dancing around the stage and having a blast!
24. Encore B. Tank! -- Cowboy Bebop
You know they had to do this! COMPLETELY AWESOME. The sax solos are CRAZY AMAZING.
24. Encore C. Orchestra Medley -- Various
I'm not going to list the songs for now (too tired), but I will as soon as I get a chance! Included accompanying video clips from the series the songs were from. The orchestra is spot-on and it's so powerful and great getting to see everything performed by the actual orchestra that worked on most of the series, and Yoko Kanno's favorite orchestra on top of that. Also, I can't remember exactly when (I'd guess during Tank!), but Yoko Kanno was running around in a chick costume for a while, and then she had to change out of it so rapidly that she was conducting the orchestra barefoot!
24. Encore D. SMS Shoutai no Uta -- Macross Frontier
The whole audience sang this song, loudly and joyfully and to the point that it was slightly difficult to hear the actual song underneath it all. SO MUCH FUN. XD
24. Encore E. Yoko Kanno Speech!
Yoko Kanno and her adorable voice! It sounds slightly deeper on the recordings, but she has the ultimate cute squeaky voice, haha. She's so adorable! It's funny, in person she doesn't look her age AT ALL. Like...at ALL. In pictures she looks like, yeah, I guess she could be her age, but in person, she looks like she couldn't be older than eighteen. It's crazy. Also, LOL at Steve's "I love you! and Scott's "I love you more!"
24. Encore F. Anata no Oto -- Macross Frontier
Megumi. This was so memorable and amazing and awesome and hilarious. I loved doing "Dokun dokun dokun" (complete with hand gestures) with the very enthusiastic audience, and everyone involved musicians and vocalists-wise was on the stage walking around and it felt very much like...a happy ending to the concert, I suppose. Then it got very silly, as Megumi--probably at Yoko Kanno's urging--changed the lyrics to "Ahiru no oto" (the duck's sound) instead of "Anata no oto," and then Yoko Kanno squeaked her duck instead of the "dokun dokun dokun." Next times around, the whole audience squeaked their ducks instead of "dokun dokun dokun" when prompted. I was laughing so hard, it was great. I will never forget the sound all those squeaky ducks made. XD
24. Encore G. End Titles Nostalgia -- Turn-A Gundam
Ahhh, so beautiful, beginning with a classic end-of-concert Yoko Kanno piano solo, but then going into the whole orchestra as well! Thought this might be the very end, but I suspected she might have some final surprise up her sleeve, though I couldn't think what it could possibly be. Boy was I surprised and amazed...
24. Encore H. Moon -- Turn-A Gundam
I sat there confused for a little bit, because after the stage went dark and we waited for a while in the darkness, the lights came on and the first thing I noticed was that Yoko Kanno was not conducting, and was in fact right in center stage...not in front of her piano! And then...she began to sing. It's truly official, as I've seen it with my own eyes--Gabriela Robin is Yoko Kanno, and it is no longer a secret. I was so incredibly moved and taken aback and just...it was beyond words, really. I knew then that this really, truly was 100% a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, something that could never happen again. She may have another anime compilation concert again (and I assure you I will be there if she does), but she will never again be able to reveal that she was Gabriela Robin all along as we suspected, and perform as a vocalist in front of an audience for the first time ever. At that point, I knew it was truly over. After all, it would have been impossible to top that. It really would have.
I have SO MUCH MORE TO SAY about this concert now that I've opened the floodgates, but again it is late and I don't want to ramble too incredibly much in this entry, so I will probably do another entry on other parts of the concert experience that didn't really fit in with a track-by-track listing. Apologies for my lack of ability to write in this entry, and overusing the same words over and over. To be honest, even after almost two months I feel relatively speechless about the concert, because I feel like I can't put it in words and do it justice. It was just that incredible.
Anyway, I hope you guys listen and enjoy! \o/ If you're not familiar with Yoko Kanno to begin with, instead of downloading the concert go download a torrent of all of her stuff ("yoko kanno torrent" on Google brings that torrent up immediately)! You won't regret it, I promise! And please try to buy some of her CDs if you like her music. She's amazing and deserves your money.
OFF TO BED WITH ME BEFORE I RAMBLE ABOUT YOKO KANNO FOR THE REST OF THE CENTURY.
I finally got to uploading the Yoko Kanno concert recordings! I actually recorded about half of the concert myself on a little recorder I brought with me, but my recording came out really crummy. Thankfully, someone else on the internet managed to get a decent recording of the whole concert. For this, I am forever thankful.
Here is the .RAR of the whole concert --> http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A2Y9E845
As a note, the recording is very good but not incredible. This was a huge, huge concert and the recorder didn't capture a ton in the way of applause, and the actual audio quality of the concert was much higher. In fact, I don't think the concert itself, in person, could have sounded much better than it did. The volume was perfect, the balance was great, and everything was so clear and crisp! It sounded fantastic. The recordings drown out the singers' voices a little sometimes, and catch what was going on directly around the recorder a bit too clearly at times. Nonetheless, the recording is excellent for an audience recording, and I'm certainly not complaining. XD
The performers present were: Yoko Kanno (duh), Maaya Sakamoto, Steve Conte, Origa, Mai Yamane, Scott Matthew, May'n, Megumi Nakajima, The Seatbelts, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. If there is piano or keyboards in a song, that's undoubtedly Yoko Kanno, who was playing like crazy on her red grand piano and keyboards for much of the concert, interspersed with running around the stage, changing costumes, conducting the orchestra, occasionally dancing, and so on. She's a very vibrant and adorable person. :D
I can't remember everything at the moment because I'll suddenly remember little pieces of the concert when a memory is triggered (honestly, I was so stunned by the concert that I feel like my memories of it are almost dreamlike), and so I will probably come back and add and fix any mistakes I make later. If I don't say much about a particular song, it just means I don't have much to add, not that I didn't enjoy it or it wasn't amazing. XD The whole concert was INCREDIBLE. I will be overusing a great many words such as awesome, amazing, incredible, fantastic, and so on.
And here's the track listing and some of my comments/explanations on each track:
00. A. Opening 1 -- Works Video
For the beginning of the concert, there was a video on the screens showing clips of the various anime Yoko Kanno has worked on, along with clips of the music from said series. None of this was live, it was just a review of what she has worked on. You can hear the audience applauding for various series that come up. The video was pretty nicely done, and it certainly started getting the audience all amped up and excited. Oddly enough, I did notice that Darker Than Black was not mentioned at all during the concert. I wonder why...? Perhaps there were legal issues or something.
00. B. Opening 2 -- Landing
During seating, there had been videos of twinkling stars with occasional "chick spaceships" (yes, as in baby chicken spaceships) going by and playing little distorted clips from Yoko Kanno songs. At this point, the spaceship came back on the screen for a while with music playing, the chick captain of the ship was preparing for landing (I can't remember what it was doing exactly, but it was adorable), and then the ship disappeared from the screen. At this point, there was a strange effect with the lights over the stage, making it look and feel as though a spaceship was landing! And from there, the concert started!
00. C. Torukia -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
First song performed was Torukia, performed by all of the female vocalists in the concert singing together, with Origa doing the main parts. Started out just playing the recorded version, I believe, but turned entirely live as it went on. *A*
01. Inner Universe -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Performed by Origa, with Maaya as back-up. I was really impressed by how great Origa is live! Actually, I was impressed by absolutely everyone, but that's not the point. XD
02. Lion -- Macross Frontier
Performed by May'n and Megumi Nakajima. Lots of fun live, and the two girls were dressed roughly like their characters, though not in a cosplay sense. I seem to recall that there was multicolored confetti coming down from in front of the stage during Lion, which made it look all sparkly and awesome. LOL at the audience and their chanting! There was actually a guy not too far from me who would yell "RANKA KAWAII!" loudly at random intervals between songs, which was rather hilarious. You can kind of hear him yelling simply "RANKA!" at one point towards the end of this song, fff.
03. Player -- Macross Frontier
Origa! With Mai Yamane riling up the audience partway through. The rap portion of the song was mostly omitted (which works better than I would expect), and the little that was used I think was recorded? Most of the other female vocalists were around doing various back-up parts. In fact, for much of the concert many of the vocalists would be up on stage at once, either doing back-up vocals or dancing.
04. Want It All Back -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai Yamane! She has so much fun on the stage, and seeing the Seatbelts up there with their jazz instruments is amazing. Mai forgot the lyrics at one point and you can hear her apologize, haha. She remembered the lyrics of the rest of the song, though. XD
05. What Planet Is This? -- Cowboy Bebop
So awesome! The Seatbelts are incredible. The whole audience would yell, "WHAT PLANET IS THIS?" on cue, along with everyone on stage.
06. Chikyuu Kyoumei -- Earth Maiden Arjuna
One of my favorite Arjuna songs, so I was happy they performed it! Again, basically all the female vocalists pitched in on this one. Sadly the only Arjuna song performed, but that's okay because they chose a great one.
07. Rakuen and Innocent Green Piano Medley -- Wolf's Rain and Macross Frontier
S-so beautiful, I teared up a little in the concert. Yoko Kanno's piano skills are always awesome, but live, as she's playing in the same vicinity as you, it's like they take on another dimension of feeling. It's so emotional and it's like the music surrounds you. Ah, I can't describe it. The audience was so silent, it was amazing. There's also a recorded version of this piano medley on the CD in the concert program. I'll have to upload it sometime~
08. Tachikoma no Iede -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Hee, so adorable! At this point in the concert, two girls in chick costumes came out and were goofing around and dancing on the stage. You'll hear them playing with the piano at one point, messing up the song, and Yoko Kanno responds by playing louder. :D
09. Hatodokei -- Napple Tale
Yoko Kanno gets up at this point and stands in the front of the stage with the two chick girls, and together the three of them play this silly song with a variety of instruments they pick up. So goofy and cute! The squeaking you hear towards the end is the squeaky ducks that were sold before the concert. Most of the audience, including myself, had them. We didn't use them this time (just Yoko Kanno did), but later we did.
10. Cat Blues -- Cowboy Bebop
You'll hear the audience laughing in this one a fair amount, and that's because it was pretty hilarious. :D An anime cat with a tie on appeared on the screen walking, and a guy dressed as a black cat appeared on the stage, too, and he and the two chick girls play pranks on each other most of the time during the song. You'll hear weird little whispery noises at some points, and that's the chicks strategizing against the cat. At the end of the song, Yoko Kanno steals the cat's tail and wears it as a boa. LOL WTF. XD
11. Be Human -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Performed by Scott Matthew. Not much commentary on this one. It was quite lovely, though, and great to see Scott live! I think the lighting was blue during this song? I don't even know if I'm remembering that correctly, but yeah.
12. Tune the Rainbow (Acapella) -- RahXephon
Maaya always sounds so clear and spot-on live. This was a beautiful acapella version of Tune the Rainbow, which has never been an acapella song. I liked the addition of the bird noises as well, and the audience was SO silent again. It felt very dreamlike during this and the next song.
13. Voices -- Macross Plus
As performed by Nakajima Megumi! I must say that I was a little worried about how Megumi would hold up live, as I had seen her sing once on a TV show and it was a bit shaky. I was pleasantly surprised that she sounded absolutely wonderful live! She reminds me almost of younger Maaya, in a way, though obviously their voices and singing styles are different. This version of Voices is absolutely beautiful. I also have to say that I was really happy that this song was performed, as this song would play in my head every time I looked at the blue summer sky and thought about heading to Japan on a plane to see Yoko Kanno, and this really profound feeling would fill me. Needless to say, in the concert it felt even more profound and amazing. ♥
14. Diamond Crevasse -- Macross Frontier
Performed by May'n. The most emotional Diamond Crevasse ever. ;; I swear it almost looked like May'n had tears in her eyes by the end of the song. So amazed and impressed and moved. May'n has one hell of a voice.
15. Gravity -- Wolf's Rain
Okay, this is the second time I've seen Gravity live (as I saw Maaya perform it in 2005 at Anime Expo as well), but this time was more awesome with the addition of Yoko Kanno playing the piano. So pretty and emotional, gahhh.
16. Garden of Everything -- RahXephon
I was thrilled that they performed this, as I love this song so much and never thought I'd get to see it live! Steve Conte sounds fantastic live as well! (What else is new, they all do! XD) Maaya was on the back stage, while Steve was in the front part of the stage. At the end of the song they tried to go towards each other, but were blocked by a guy in a cape, who represented the fact that they couldn't be together or something. Anyway, beautiful and awesome.
17. Could You Bite the Hand? -- Wolf's Rain
It was amazing seeing Steve sing this as well as play some incredible rhythm guitar on top of singing. He was playing so fast! The audience had fun clapping to this one. XD
018. Call Me Call Me -- Cowboy Bebop
Steve Conte again! So beautiful, goddammit. ;; Got a little teary, yes. This song is a very important one for me, and I would have been so so sad if it hadn't been played.
19. Yakusoku wa Iranai -- Escaflowne
Maaya, of course! During the beginning of the song you'll hear a bunch of cheering at one point, and that is when the curtain at the back of the stage raised and there was the whole orchestra. *A* Aahhhh, so incredible! The feeling this gave me was pretty much euphoric. I never really thought of Yakusoku wa Iranai as being terribly epic (though it's a great song, and a classic), but during this rendition it totally was.
20. Iteza Gogo Kuji Don't Be Late -- Macross Frontier
May'n. So fun, and really brought the audience to yet another level! Everyone was rocking out, and when she yells "MOTTEKE!" the whole audience does, too, progressively louder and louder with each one. Shortly after one of the "MOTTEKE!"s there was a "bang!" and a bunch of huge silver streamers came down in front of the stage, making it all the more awesome. You'll hear the audience cheering at that point. I was grinning ear to ear and basically the whole audience was dancing and going wild.
21. Seikan Hikou -- Macross Frontier
Megumi was having so much fun in this one. XD She was doing the dance that goes with the song during the singing, and there's a TON of "Kira!" training for the audience, fff haha. Doesn't make the most exciting audio because you can't see what was going on, but she was going around the stage and having different parts of the audience enthusiastically "Kira!" It was a competition, heh. Everyone on the stage, including Kanno herself, was doing "Kira!", too, which was a hilarious sight. Great fun. :D
22. Medley
This medley was massive, so it requires individual breakdowns:
* Genesis of Aquarion -- Sousei no Aquarion
Performed by May'n. The choir sounded amazing, but I didn't like this version as much as the recorded version. Oh well, regardless it was great hearing the audience all singing along, and May'n did a good job considering I don't think she speaks English.
* What 'Bout My Star -- Macross Frontier
May'n and Megumi! Fun and adorable. :D
* Oboete Imasu Ka? -- Macross
Megumi. The entire audience seemed to know this one, as I would expect they would!
* Watashi no Kare wa Pilot -- Macross
For a few seconds, anyway, before it goes back into What 'Bout My Star!
* Welcome to the Fanclub's Night -- Macross Frontier
* Purachina -- Cardcaptor Sakura
Maaya burst in wearing the most ridiculous multicolored floofy skirt, haha! It was adorable. XD It's always fun hearing her do her older songs live because her voice has matured so much!
* Rise -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Origa, being fantastic as usual! I love this song. It always makes me want to write really epic, dark, awesome stories for some reason.
* Infinity -- Macross Frontier
May'n, for a few seconds!
* Hemisphere -- RahXephon
Maaya! Second time I've seen this live as well, but again it's better with the actual band there and everything. They actually played the intro animation that goes with it as well.
* Beauty is Within Us -- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Scott Matthew. This song is so powerful no matter what, but live it's just...really, really potent and amazing. *___* Gorgeous.
* ELM -- Cowboy Bebop
As performed by Origa and Scott! Simply gorgeous, and it's fun to hear another spin on the song. This song/scene in the series is one of my favorite examples of Yoko Kanno's odd and amazing use of music. It doesn't seem like criminal-capturing spaceship battle music, but somehow it works so very well and to amazing effect.
* Kiseki no Umi -- Record of the Lodoss Wars
But no actual vocals, though, unfortunately, just the song intro. Good thing I saw it in its entirety at Maaya's concert at AX!
* After, in the Dark -- Macross Plus
No vocals, again, but awesome drums.
* Rain -- Cowboy Bebop
As performed by both Steve and Mai, so essentially mixing the two versions together! Totally awesome and nostalgic.
* Ao no Ether -- Macross Frontier
Megumi! So poignant. ;; I loved the bit of Megumi and May'n doing "It's long, long goodbye..." together. Made it all the much more moving.
* Gotta Knock A Little Harder -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai. YES. This was amazing! Especially because most of the vocalists involved in the concert did back-up vocals on this song and it just...made it incredible. I remember clearly standing there just going, "Oh man, I'm watching a bunch of Yoko Kanno's main vocalists all singing Gotta Knock a Little Harder all together. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS." I'm not sure why I remember that so clearly because I kept thinking that sort of thing throughout the whole concert, but, anyway.
* Yubiwa
Maaya! So beautiful, ahh.
* The Real Folk Blues -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai. NO WORDS. REAL FOLK BLUES LIVE. So many memories, ahh.
23. Blue -- Cowboy Bebop
Mai, with Maaya and a few of the other female vocalists doing the beginning bit. I cried a little because it was so powerful and beautiful and...bawww. T____T I think a lot of the audience had tears in their eyes. I loved the new bit with the violins toward the end, and "We're ascending" instead of "I'm ascending." Goddamn. So fucking amazing. Note the crazy long applause. Thought it might be the end of the concert (though I suspected it wasn't because several songs hadn't been played that I figured probably would be), but instead we got EPIC HUGE ENCORE.
24. Encore A. -- Yo Pumpkin Head -- Cowboy Bebop
Hahaha, this was fun/awesome. Everyone was dancing around the stage and having a blast!
24. Encore B. Tank! -- Cowboy Bebop
You know they had to do this! COMPLETELY AWESOME. The sax solos are CRAZY AMAZING.
24. Encore C. Orchestra Medley -- Various
I'm not going to list the songs for now (too tired), but I will as soon as I get a chance! Included accompanying video clips from the series the songs were from. The orchestra is spot-on and it's so powerful and great getting to see everything performed by the actual orchestra that worked on most of the series, and Yoko Kanno's favorite orchestra on top of that. Also, I can't remember exactly when (I'd guess during Tank!), but Yoko Kanno was running around in a chick costume for a while, and then she had to change out of it so rapidly that she was conducting the orchestra barefoot!
24. Encore D. SMS Shoutai no Uta -- Macross Frontier
The whole audience sang this song, loudly and joyfully and to the point that it was slightly difficult to hear the actual song underneath it all. SO MUCH FUN. XD
24. Encore E. Yoko Kanno Speech!
Yoko Kanno and her adorable voice! It sounds slightly deeper on the recordings, but she has the ultimate cute squeaky voice, haha. She's so adorable! It's funny, in person she doesn't look her age AT ALL. Like...at ALL. In pictures she looks like, yeah, I guess she could be her age, but in person, she looks like she couldn't be older than eighteen. It's crazy. Also, LOL at Steve's "I love you! and Scott's "I love you more!"
24. Encore F. Anata no Oto -- Macross Frontier
Megumi. This was so memorable and amazing and awesome and hilarious. I loved doing "Dokun dokun dokun" (complete with hand gestures) with the very enthusiastic audience, and everyone involved musicians and vocalists-wise was on the stage walking around and it felt very much like...a happy ending to the concert, I suppose. Then it got very silly, as Megumi--probably at Yoko Kanno's urging--changed the lyrics to "Ahiru no oto" (the duck's sound) instead of "Anata no oto," and then Yoko Kanno squeaked her duck instead of the "dokun dokun dokun." Next times around, the whole audience squeaked their ducks instead of "dokun dokun dokun" when prompted. I was laughing so hard, it was great. I will never forget the sound all those squeaky ducks made. XD
24. Encore G. End Titles Nostalgia -- Turn-A Gundam
Ahhh, so beautiful, beginning with a classic end-of-concert Yoko Kanno piano solo, but then going into the whole orchestra as well! Thought this might be the very end, but I suspected she might have some final surprise up her sleeve, though I couldn't think what it could possibly be. Boy was I surprised and amazed...
24. Encore H. Moon -- Turn-A Gundam
I sat there confused for a little bit, because after the stage went dark and we waited for a while in the darkness, the lights came on and the first thing I noticed was that Yoko Kanno was not conducting, and was in fact right in center stage...not in front of her piano! And then...she began to sing. It's truly official, as I've seen it with my own eyes--Gabriela Robin is Yoko Kanno, and it is no longer a secret. I was so incredibly moved and taken aback and just...it was beyond words, really. I knew then that this really, truly was 100% a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, something that could never happen again. She may have another anime compilation concert again (and I assure you I will be there if she does), but she will never again be able to reveal that she was Gabriela Robin all along as we suspected, and perform as a vocalist in front of an audience for the first time ever. At that point, I knew it was truly over. After all, it would have been impossible to top that. It really would have.
I have SO MUCH MORE TO SAY about this concert now that I've opened the floodgates, but again it is late and I don't want to ramble too incredibly much in this entry, so I will probably do another entry on other parts of the concert experience that didn't really fit in with a track-by-track listing. Apologies for my lack of ability to write in this entry, and overusing the same words over and over. To be honest, even after almost two months I feel relatively speechless about the concert, because I feel like I can't put it in words and do it justice. It was just that incredible.
Anyway, I hope you guys listen and enjoy! \o/ If you're not familiar with Yoko Kanno to begin with, instead of downloading the concert go download a torrent of all of her stuff ("yoko kanno torrent" on Google brings that torrent up immediately)! You won't regret it, I promise! And please try to buy some of her CDs if you like her music. She's amazing and deserves your money.
OFF TO BED WITH ME BEFORE I RAMBLE ABOUT YOKO KANNO FOR THE REST OF THE CENTURY.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-28 09:55 am (UTC)Auugh I love Maaya D: And Steve Conte! He has such an amazing voice. I wish I knew whether or not he does anything outside of Yoko's music, because I would love to buy his albums.
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Date: 2009-08-28 05:06 pm (UTC)*Snags this recording, 'cause it sounds a lot better than the one her friend gave her* Mmmm Yoko Kanno music. :Q____
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Date: 2009-08-28 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-28 05:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-28 08:27 pm (UTC)That's really cool they revealed that secret at the concert.
Thanks for relaying the concert to us. Just seeing the list of songs makes me happy. "Blue" is always incredible.
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Date: 2009-08-28 10:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-29 02:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-29 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-29 04:21 pm (UTC)And like...Rahxephon is this enormous psychological study/love story. Eva's an enormous psychological brain break.
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Date: 2009-08-31 06:21 pm (UTC)Maaya is so adorable and sweet in person! I feel so lucky I've gotten to see her live twice now. And yes, Steve Conte is awesome. He does have a band with his brother, actually, called The Contes, though I haven't heard any of their stuff yet. According to Wikipedia, he's also involved in a band called Crown Jewels and another called New York Dolls.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-31 06:23 pm (UTC)Also, I would have Studio GAINAX pictures for you but Yamada-san has them on his camera and hasn't e-mailed them to me yet. I'll have to remind him sometime soon! It was really really awesome getting to visit and tour the studio. *3*
Domo arigato
Date: 2010-06-15 07:11 pm (UTC)Re: Domo arigato
Date: 2010-06-15 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-22 01:37 pm (UTC)I'm crying as I read this, not so much from wishing I was there, but from the sheer emotion of what you describe. I can imagine it all so vividly. It must have been so overwhelming in person.
And the reveal of Yoko Kanno as Gabriela Robin!!!!! I don't have the words.
Thanks for writing it up. At least I got a taste of what it would have been like to be there.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-22 08:03 pm (UTC)It was totally incredible! I'll never get over the fact that I was there. It was the best day of my life, hands-down, and I don't know if anything else can ever beat it. It was like a holy experience for me, haha. It's a shame that I was very sick at the time, so I was exhausted and felt like I might pass out (the entire audience stood up for the entire concert, which was about three hours), but I still did my best to absorb everything that was happening. I think about this concert almost every day.
I've since been lucky enough to see Yoko Kanno live again, at Anime Expo 2010, albeit only for maybe twenty minutes.
Now I only need to meet her and get her autograph and I can truly die happy. T_____T